The 2018 Jordanian protests started as a general strike organized by more than 30 trade unions on 30 May 2018 after the government of Hani Mulki submitted a new tax law to Parliament. The bill followed IMF-backed austerity measures adopted by Mulki's government since 2016 that aimed to tackle Jordan's growing public debt. Although Jordan had been relatively unscathed from the violence that swept the region following the 2011 Arab Spring, its economy had taken a hit from the surrounding turmoil and from an influx of a large number of Syrian refugees into the country. Jordan also hosts a large contingent of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees, further straining its finances. The UNHCR places Jordan as the world's second largest host of refugees per capita.

Hani Fawzi Mulki is a Jordanian politician that held several ministerial and diplomatic positions, and he was Chief Commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority before his designation as the 41st Prime Minister of Jordan by King Abdullah II and approval by the House of Representatives on 29 May 2016.